Chapter 3

I spent the next couple of hours listening to my wife tell me all about Steven Archer and his seduction. It had been going on for months. He started slowly, subtly working on brainwashing my wife into accepting his bullshit. He never pushed too hard or tried anything too overt, knowing that she was smart enough to catch on if he did.

So far, if I could believe her, they had only talked. She had never so much as kissed him. That was part of his plan. By not making any overt attempt to get physical, she believed his motives were pure. He was going to wait until I consented to make his move.

By the time she finished her story, I became convinced of two things: 1) my marriage was most likely over, even if she never spoke to Steven again, and 2) Steven needed to pay for what he was doing.

I needed a plan for how to deal with both items, but I was at a loss for what to do about either. I needed to buy time.

“Are you still mad at me?” Maggie asked.

“Maggie, I don’t know what I feel,” I told her. “It’s not easy to put into words. A big part of me is hurt and angry that you would think so little of our marriage to even consider what Steven was proposing. If you wanted to spice up our sex life, that is not the way. There are at least a hundred other things you could have tried first, like maybe not turning me down every time I tried to fool around.”

Maggie lowered her eyes and appeared chagrined. After a couple of minutes, she gazed up and asked, “What do the other parts of you think?”

I sighed. “The other parts of me feel sympathetic for you getting fooled by a slick manipulator who played you. So that part of me wants to hold you blameless and resume our lives.”

“I’d like that, a lot,” Maggie replied, smiling at me. “Can we do that and forget I ever brought this whole thing up?”

“No, we can’t,” I answered honestly. “There is still a part of me that wants to walk away and ever see you again. I may be able to get past your betrayal eventually, but it is going to take time and effort on your part.”

Maggie nodded, then asked, “Is there any part that would even consider the idea as sexy or fun?”

“Jesus, Maggie!” I shouted. “Are you seriously asking me that after everything I’ve said?”

“Sorry,” she said, looking down in shame, “I’m sorry! So, what happens now?”

“I don’t know, to be honest,” I replied. “I need some time to think about what I want to do about it. The fact that you would still be considering doing it tells me a lot about you.”

“I’m sorry! Please tell me you still don’t want to get a divorce.”

“I don’t fucking know, but I guess it depends on you, really,” I replied. “If I find out you’ve lied to me about anything I will divorce you. If you don’t shut Steven down, completely, I will divorce you.”

“He’s going to ask about it. What do I do?”

“You need to figure out what you’re going to tell him. Do you talk with him when you’re not at work, call, text, chat on the computer?”

“No, not much at all,” she explained. “We mostly only talk at work. Steven made a big point of not getting in touch with each other except at the office. However, I know Steven will ask about it first thing tomorrow. I don’t know what to say. Should I tell him to forget the whole thing and never bring it up again?”

“Of course you should,” I said, as I thought about what I could do to get back at the man you wanted to fuck my wife. “Is he married?” I asked.

Maggie nodded. “Yeah,” she said softly. “They just had their second kid a few months ago.”

“Christ, Maggie!” I exclaimed. “He just had a kid, and you were considering fucking this guy? What about his wife and their family? Did you even think about them?”

“He told me that she’s okay with him fooling around. They have an open marriage.”

“And you believed him?”

She blushed. I could tell she was beginning to realize how foolish she had been. “Yeah, I guess I wanted to believe him. I know how dumb that is now.”